All for the Peace in South Sudan

Soldier Gu Jinkai, a peacekeeper assigned to the 14th Chinese peacekeeping engineering detachment to Wau of South Sudan, stands guard in his sentry post on September 26, local time.

WAU, Sept. 27 (ChinaMil) -- Gu Jinkai walked to his No.2 sentry post as the sun set on Sept. 26. As a veteran of the 14th Chinese peacekeeping engineering detachment to Wau of South Sudan, it was the last task for Gu Jinkai in Wau, because he would return to China tomorrow.

The afterglow in South Sudan was beautiful. However, looking from the observation hole of the sentry post was a bleak picture of sorrow: there were many white tents crowded in a small area and the road in between was crowded with people. This was the scene of the largest refugee resettlement point in Wau, which had attracted more than 20,000 refugees.

The evening in South Sudan was hot and unbearable. Gu Jinkai, armed to the teeth on the post, were teaching the newcomers assigned to the 15h Chinese peacekeeping engineering detachment how to observe the situation and deal with relevant emergencies.

This is already the 5th time for Gu Jinkai to perform peacekeeping missions in Wau of South Sudan since he joined the People's Liberation Army(PLA) 10 years ago. Gu thinks that half of his military life is dedicated to peacekeeping missions.

As a peacekeeping engineer, Gu and his teammates had a very busy life in Wau. They had lots of construction works to do during the day, and also had to stay vigilant to address all kinds of emergencies at night.

"There was a tremendous firefight in late June of this year between government forces and anti-government forces in the southwest direction of Wau. The gunfire, like firecrackers, could be heard every day. I could not and dared not sleep at night," Gu recalled.

Gu said that the armed conflicts caused a large number of refugee agglomeration and the Chinese peacekeepers were ordered to build refugee settlement points. As a matter of course, Chinese peacekeepers successfully completed tasks on time with high quality under a volatile and threatening situation, wining highly appreciation from officials of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) .

Reluctant to leave, Gu looked around the peacekeeping camp with feeling. Five times of peacekeeping tasks to South Sudan has made Wau a second home for him.

The life of the people in South Sudan has been improving step by step since UN began its peacekeeping operations in South Sudan.

"When I first came to Wau, there were traditional conical cottages, the dirt road was rough and bumpy, and there were very few motor vehicles and bikes," Gu recalled.

"But this time when I came to Wau, I noticed a significant change: the village has some brick houses, the road has become flat, and motorcycles are everywhere. This means that UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan have contributed to peace process in this country," he continued.

Lt. Col. Li Qingfeng, chief of the engineering detachment of the 14th Chinese peacekeeping troops to South Sudan, said that Chinese peacekeepers in Wau are mainly responsible for road repair along the supply line, project support, medical assistance and other people-benefited projects. These projects have improved the local people's livelihood and are welcomed by local people.

The statement is true. Our reporters have spent a few days in Wau and local people would often give their thumbs up, saying "China", "Hello" and "Thank you" in Chinese. This has made us very proud.